Awful.

This is a key example of why I’m such a big fan of going responsive for mobile web. This type of behavior is generally pushed through by marketing, to make a splash with either investors or some other market segment without thinking about research into user trends or user interaction.

When designing applications (especially those applications that tie back to web), ask yourself if there are behaviors there that users need. Do you interact with the OS layer to provide new and needed functionality to your users? Do you have a user base which is using your service or product so often that you need an application that users have to open faster than their browser?

Apps are great, but so is the web, put in the time and leg work to find what your users need from you, then build!

He’s finally released a compilation of his work to date with some great tracks. Don’t miss the dubstep version of In the Air Tonight, it’s amazing.

Give it a listen, see if you’re a fan like me. It’s great music to work (or workout) to.

Most of their products are found on Ebay or other private auction sites but what really makes the collection is the copy writing. Each product has a “suitable for” and a “not suitable for” which always manage to bring a smile. For instance: a set of smoke-colored beach gin&tonic glasses might be suitable for hot toddies, not cold bodies.

They have a great interface too, the infinite scroll and comfortable photo placement both help make it lots of fun to browse through.

Made by Hand is a new short film series celebrating the people who make things by hand—sustainably, locally, and with a love for their craft.

In 1974, Dominican immigrant Don Antonio Martinez started a small shop in New York City selling hand rolled cigars. Thirty-eight years later his son, Jesus, carries on the tradition. The shop combines craftsmanship with community, mixing equal parts work and play.

Mood Board 1

Mood Board 2

Mood Board 3

I’m trying for a retro jetset theme that incorporates a feeling of the midcentury modern style of air travel. I think this era and industry reinforces how important visual style, knowledge, and harmony are to a particular user experience. Travel by air was a luxury, a break from the commonplace and service was key. By making distinct branding materials, colors, and styles – companies cared about how the users perceived them.

More to come.

First is Prioritization – look at all the products and features that must be dealt with and rank them. Minor Problems are low impact and can often be taken care of them by themselves or time. Delayed Problems need to be addressed but don’t drop everything to work on them. These are often client delays and often times these can be used as filler when downtime exists. Immediate Problems are projects with heavy impact and need help urgently- these are the problems you drop everything for. Expectant Problems are critical flaws. No amount of time will fix these – consider a mercy killing.

Secondly, the UX triage doctor needs selflessness. Collaboration is key but never forget that the product is the star, not the designer. Don’t blow past asking the right questions on the way to making solutions. Designers can sometimes get so excited on a new project design, they forget key questions. Remember: Think, Make, Check, Repeat.

Thirdly, you’ll need the ability to perform Mercy Killings. It can be hard to fail often when you get invested in the solution. In a good institution saying ‘no’ to bad ideas is easy: Tell the truth with data, ask the right questions (is there a vision?), and tell stories to bring bad ideas out into the light of day (Devil’s Advocate). In less comfortable institutions your options to saying ‘no’ are more severe: Reflecting back conflict, Poison Pill the idea (also know as Grassroots Murder) by dropping small negative hints at the idea until groupthink takes over, or Quit.

Fourthly, you’ll need MacGuyver-like scrappiness. Always be making awesome with what’s on hand. Try to DIY everything you can – there are many options for free and cheap tech/ prototyping models out there. Use your scrappiness to determine the vision of the design solution.

Lastly, staying human matters. Don’t burn yourself out for the product. Schedule sleep and rest – you’re more creative and productive when you’re not beating your head against a wall. Try to find your flow in the chaos – when you’re in the zone, you’ll feel better about your work and ideas will flow. Use lulls in the product life cycle to go back to those minor and delayed problems and fix them to give your mind a different tact. Spend energy on propaganda of inspiration – get others excited about the work and psych yourself up with good design.

Take Home
It’s important in designing solutions to prioritize effectively, especially as work comes flowing down the pipe at high speed. Effective prioritization means a more comfortable and easy workflow. Constantly be thinking about the vision to determine when ideas are good and when they can become critical flaws to the product vision. Work with your team to promote good ideas and mercy kill the bad ones by proving the concept out. Never be afraid to try and ideate. It’s important to look for cheap and effective ways to get the job done, not just for your team, but the company at large. Memento Mori – you’re only human and as such, you need to clear your mind from time to time and try to get into your flow whenever you can.

See Also
#uxtriage
Slides

Handsets matter. Users want to test to test with their own phones. If that’s not possible, users should do test runs and practice with the phone that needs to be tested.

Don’t use Wi-Fi in your tests, using 3G is more likely for the field.

In comparing Field vs. Lab, everything is about equal, so keeping things easy, just do lab tests.

Document cameras are useful but expensive. The major problem with the DocCams are the stationary nature. Phones must be manipulated in 3D space.

When viewing remote screengrab software, it doesn’t work on all devices. No current platform supports all devices. Remote viewing also shows no fingers when swiping. Mouse movements on emulators don’t work either as touch is best.

Mounted devices are best for testing. The can be amazingly expensive, however, as well as heavy.

DIY rig is easy. It weighs 125g, is less than $200, won’t damage the phone, and the recording software is open source. (it even works with physical keyboards!)

See Also
http://goo.gl/rJi7M
#SXdiymut